The Christmas season is upon us and with these days of holiday preparation come certain expectations and memories that are as integral to our celebrations as traditional foods and decorations. Cherishing each moment, and the rich blend created among many moments, makes each year special, adding to the oral history passed through generations of friends and family gathering together over time. Evergreen trees brought into our homes, cookie exchanges, Advent wreathes, carol singing, last minute gift shopping and squeezing extra guests in at the table and into spare bedrooms are all part of the fun. Little of this is accomplished without some grumbling and frustration, but that is part of the season too. Life doesn't stop, even for this most miraculous time of year.
For many of us this is first and foremost a season of miracles. The Christian tradition holds that the birth of the Christ Child, Jesus, fulfilled the prophecy that God would send a Messiah to deliver and redeem the people of Israel. The ordinary way in which Jesus arrived still doesn't appear very miraculous, but somehow, in its simplicity, still carries awe and reverence even today. How Jesus of Nazareth carried out his life mission measures as a humble existence at best. He was possessed of absolutely no material wealth, never traveled very far from his hometown and constantly relied on the kindness of strangers for his most basic needs. Despite what appears to be a rather nondescript life that ended in a horribly brutal death, Jesus' message of God's love, forgiveness and hope extended to include all those who would choose Him to be included in their lives.
But hearing a good bit of, "Bah, humbug!" spirit around me with the Christmas season barely begun, I am inclined to believe that a whole lot of people have lost touch with their sense of the miraculous and of hope itself. More so, I am seeing that even more people don't have a desire to welcome hope into their lives. There are certainly always good reasons not to hope. The world is filled with hatred, evil and just a general mean-spiritedness that overwhelms even the most joyful souls. Hopelessness is a heavy burden to carry and a difficult one to lay down once we have become accustomed to its weight. Hopelessness curves our spines and twists our souls into believing that there is nothing else for us. Hopelessness, if we let it, becomes our faith, and we lose our hearts in the bargain.
You see, for as many reasons as there are not to hope, there is always the best reason of all to hope, and that is that we can. Hope, like anything thing else is a choice, a decision or a series of decisions made throughout our lives. Hope is actively believing that something can happen when logic says that it won't. Hope doesn't exist in a vacuum, but resides in the will and the hearts of those yearning for more and knowing that it can be. Hope isn't for the faint of heart, but for those strong enough to have a vision of what they want and know it can come to be. They can then focus their attention on making that happen. In this sense hope is a form a prayer, a preparatory step of longing toward the reality of what isn't quite tangible.
I love this time of year because even among all the extra shopping, parties, stresses and strains we put ourselves through, we still have this opportunity to reflect back on the Christmas story of Jesus' birth, remember the ages of hope and expectation the preceded that simple moment that changed history and consider how it has changed us. How we live and interact with one another is still the same as then. We still gather as friends and family to share our lives, share stories and live with hope, yearning for what can be. Although we are surrounded by twinkling lights and sparkling ornaments, we are also nestled beneath the same starry night that helped lead some weary travelers to a small stable in the middle of nowhere to a newborn and his befuddled parents.
How did they know that this small baby was the person they sought? And even if he was, how old would he be before he assumed any kind of leadership role as king of his people? Perhaps that is what hope is most about, seeing the miraculous in the most ordinary of circumstances and trusting in its power to transform lives, and sometimes, even the world.